A graphical user interface allows a large number of graphical objects or items to be displayed on a display screen at the same time. Leading personal computer operating systems, such as the Apple Mac OS®, provide user interfaces in which a number of graphical representations of system objects can be displayed. Example system objects include system functions, alerts, windows, peripherals, files, and applications. Taskbars, menus, virtual buttons, a mouse, a keyboard, and other user interface elements provide mechanisms for accessing and/or activating the system objects corresponding to the displayed representations.
The graphical objects and access to the corresponding system objects and related functions, however, can be presented in a manner that facilitates an intuitive user experience. The use of metaphors that represent concrete, familiar ideas facilitate such an intuitive user experience. For example, the metaphor of a document or photo can be used to identify an electronic file; the metaphor of file folders can be used for storing documents, etc.
Often a graphical object, e.g., an application interface, may be selected from the objects or item being displayed on the display screen. For example, a user may select an application interface associated with a word processing application to open or edit documents. Presently, in many graphical user interfaces, a two-step process is performed that includes: selecting a particular application interface, and then either opening a file from a menu or dragging a graphical representation of a file onto a display area of the application interface.